


Confessions and Affections

by CuddleCave



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Body Horror, Endosoma, G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Non-Sexual, Soft Vore, half-size vore, safe vore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28205529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuddleCave/pseuds/CuddleCave
Summary: What if Benry didn't go through with being the final boss? What if he decided to apologize to Gordon for all the things he did?And what if Gordon actually decided to forgive him?
Relationships: (beginnings of Frenrey if you squint), Benrey & Gordon Freeman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	Confessions and Affections

**Author's Note:**

> Last repost!
> 
> As always, matured for vore, not for adult stuff!

“Tommy! Dr. Coomer! Bubby! _Fuck_...”  
  
  
The Science Team had just hopped through another one of the portals scattered all around the alien world of Xen, but something apparently went amiss with this one. Instead of ending up in the same place as the rest of the team, Gordon found himself completely alone on the other side of this portal.  
  
  
Well, maybe not _completely_ alone.  
  
  
Despite the absence of both his team and any native Xen creatures, Gordon can’t shake the feeling of being watched. Closely, intently.  
  
  
He has a pretty good hunch what, or rather who, is watching him.  
  
  
And much to his dismay, his hunch gets proven right not even a minute after he gets it, when the face of Benry comes phasing through the wall of the cave Gordon’s in. The human backs up against the opposite wall, gun-hand raised defensively, aimed right at the giant anomalous security guard.  
  
  
Benry, of course, seems completely unphased by the minigun pointed at his face. Instead, he just glances around here and there for a second, before looking back down at Gordon with a... worryingly eager look on his face.  
  
  
“hey, looks like you’re uh, you’re all alone here, huh?” Benry says. Gordon himself says nothing, just trying to keep his gun-hand steady and aimed. Benry continues, “so, i kinda wanted to talk to you about something. uh...” The giant looks away, worrying at his lip with a fang. “SO, uh, i was gonna like, fuck around and be all ‘raaaah i’m the evil boss and i'm gonna fuckin’ kill youuuu’ since you were all mad at me and treating me like a big bad and that made _me_ mad at _you_ and wanna show you just how big of a bad i could really be, but... now i don‘t. wanna do that.”  
  
  
Gordon quirks a brow at that. “So, what? You’re not gonna try to kill us anymore?” he asks, skeptical.  
  
  
“uh, yeah? i literally just said that?” Benry answers, looking a little offended. “never wanted to really hurt you in the first place. i just wanna be friends. always have.”  
  
  
Gordon scoffs. “Wanna be friends, huh? Well, _full offense_ , you’ve done a pretty shitty job of showing it!” Gordon says, angrily gesturing to and with his gun-hand for emphasis.  
  
  
Benry looks away at that. Much to Gordon’s surprise, there’s a look of genuine guilt on the giant's face- a stark contrast to how he acted before in regards to Gordon’s loss of his hand. “wasn’t ‘sposed to happen,” Benry says quietly. “they were supposed to just- i thought they were gonna take you somewhere else for interrogation an' shit. get you outta there faster. maybe beat you up a little, but not. that.”  
  
  
Gordon’s gun-hand lowers a bit. “Wait. Wait wait wait. You sold me out to the military... because you thought they would get me out of Black Mesa?” he asks.  
  
  
Benry nods. “they didn’t say they were gonna just, take your hand and leave you to die like that. fucked up…”  
  
  
Gordon doesn’t want to believe that Benry was just trying to help, albeit in a very misguided way. That just CAN’T be right… But he’s never seen the entity looking and sounding so sincere. There’s honest to god regret in his voice, and it’s… kind of jarring.  
  
  
Gordon shakes his head, focusing his aim again before speaking. “Why are you acting guilty about it only now? What were all those ‘clumsy boy' comments about, huh?”  
  
  
Benry winces. “was tryin’ to lighten the mood. make you laugh. forget about how much your arm hurt before it grew back,” Benry says, sinking down into the floor until he’s pits-deep in it, arms folded in front of him with his head resting in them. He’s still not looking at Gordon as he continues, “but then tommy told me that humans don’t grow body parts back, lil’ bit before you got the gun-hand. i was gonna say sorry, but then you kept shooting me in the face even when i wasn’t fuckin’ doing anything. made me mad, bein’ so mean to me. not cool.  
  
  
“...but i guess i wasn’t really being a great cool, either. you’re like a, like a lil’ kitty cat. all hissy and spitty and clawy, not ‘cause you’re trying to be mean, but ‘cause you’re scared. you’re human, and fragile, and when you die you stay dead and you were SO scared and i didn’t get that and was just making shit worse,” Benry says, and then stops. After about a second, he opens his mouth again to sing out a low note accompanied by glowing orbs of gloomy purple. Gordon’s never seen that color before, but given what all Benry just confessed, the emotion behind it definitely isn’t a positive one. When he finishes singing, there’s enough Sweet Voice lingering in the air that it paints the whole cave in the sad hue.  
  
  
Benry turns his face back to Gordon before speaking again. “i’m sorry for being such a sucks dumbass, and for scaring you worse than you already were, and making you lose your hand, and not getting why you were mad at me and just getting mad right back at you. i don’t wanna be mad anymore, and i don’t wanna make you mad anymore. i wanna be friends again. wanna make you laugh again. wanna be nice.” Benry stops again, sinking into the floor further, until his chin is resting on the ground. He then makes what Gordon can only describe as the strangest ‘apologetic puppy’ eyes the human has ever seen as he says, “let friend benry try to earn forgiveness, please?”  
  
  
Oh. Well, shit. Gordon’s at a loss for words. Hell must’ve frozen over back on earth, because Benry just admitted he was in the wrong and then apologized for all the shit he’s put Gordon through. And he’s not even asking to just be handed forgiveness, but for a possible chance to actually earn it. Honestly? Gordon probably shouldn’t forgive him, or give him a chance. I mean, Benry’s the reason Gordon doesn’t have a right hand anymore! He’s gonna be both physically AND mentally scarred for the rest of his life because of this fucker! And really, has Benry ever been anything other than a thorn in Gordon’s side?  
  
  
...He has, actually. The ‘clumsy little boy’ teasing may not have made Gordon laugh, but plenty of other things Benry’s said and done during their journey have definitely gotten laughs out of the man. He’s found himself doubled over with laughing so hard at some of the stupid shit Benry’s pulled. Those laughter breaks... were really good de-stressors, he has to admit. Maybe only for a few minutes, yeah, but still, better to have some quick laugh breaks than just non-stop stress 24/7. Which, considering some of the things Benry’s said just now, was probably the whole point. To make Gordon feel better. He never really realized it, because Benry’s methods of getting a laugh were so often VERY hit-or-miss. Gordon idly wonders how many more of Benry’s actions he’s been completely misunderstanding...  
  
  
Gordon sighs, and lowers his gun-hand. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he starts, “...but okay. I’m willing... to forgive you. I’ll give you a chance to make it up to me.”  
  
  
The giant’s big dark eyes go wide and a grin spreads across his face. Gordon can’t help but flinch just the tiniest bit at the sight of all of those huge carnivore teeth. “hell yeah! redemption arc time,” Benry says, excited. But then his expression falls, and he turns his gaze elsewhere again, looking very sheepish. “uh... so like, i know i’m supposed to be doing good stuff for you now to make up for all the bad stuff i’ve done, but... i was kinda hoping that you could do a lil’... lil’ something for me. to make up for all the times you shot me in the face,” Benry says. “that shit hurt, man. and not just the bullet wounds- that hurt me in my _heart_ , too. like, i know you were lashing out ‘cause you were all scared and shit, but still. not fun.”  
  
  
Gordon hates to admit it, but he probably does owe the big guy a little apology. He kinda did shoot Benry in the face out of frustration an awful lot, huh. Benry did sometimes give Gordon pretty good reason to shoot him, like here on Xen... but most of the time Gordon shot him simply because Benry was being annoying.  
  
  
Which is a REALLY shitty reason to shoot someone in the face, immortal or not.  
  
  
“Yeah, you, uh, got a point there. I really shouldn’t have been so trigger happy at you,” Gordon says rubbing at the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. Do you... want a hug?” he asks, uncertain. How do you apologize for shooting someone in the face with a minigun anyway?  
  
  
Hugging it out apparently is how, as Benry’s face lights up at the suggestion. “i like hugs. but could iiiiiii maybe get a kiss, first? maybe? please?” Benry asks in return.  
  
  
Ah, yes. Gordon should’ve seen that one coming. Right after seeing his passport, Benry’s favorite request of Gordon is to kiss him. It’s like he’s got a crush on him or something, hah… Wait, shit, DOES he have a crush on him? Sure, the entity’s acted flirty at him a lot, but he always assumed it was just a joke. But… Gordon looks at Benry now, noting the hopeful look in his eyes, and the faint blush on his face.  
  
  
…Oh god, Benry has a crush on him.  
  
  
Gordon is not sure what to do with this information.  
  
  
Something for future Gordon to mull over, at least. Benry's expecting an answer.  
  
  
“Y’know what? Sure. Apology kiss and hug it is,” Gordon says, and internally hopes he doesn’t regret this. Benry’s eyes practically sparkle at Gordon’s answer, his blush going deeper, and yeah okay the entity _definitely_ has a crush on him.  
  
  
“score!” Benry cheers, and sings out a short stream of yellow Sweet Voice. The song is interrupted when something apparently occurs to him. “oh, but first, you want out of that hev suit? so you can actually feel stuff?”  
  
  
“Dude, you have NO idea how much I want out of this fucking thing,” Gordon says, “but how do you plan on helping me take it off? Pretty sure it only comes off at the stations for it back in Black Mesa.”  
  
  
Benry, who’s risen back up out of the floor a little, just waves a dismissive hand. “nah bro, i got uh, i got a cool trick i can pull. get you outta there with no muss no fuss. gonna need to hold you, though. can i? to help?”  
  
  
While the idea of giant Benry manhandling Gordon has him more than a little apprehensive, he did already agree to straight-up cuddling the guy, and he really, _really_ wants out of the H.E.V. suit. Gordon nods. “Sure, go ahead.”  
  
  
“cool cool. come here and lift your arms please?” Benry asks. Gordon does so, and Benry slowly reaches a hand towards him. The massive hand comes up behind Gordon, and Benry places his thumb and index under Gordon’s arms, holding him by the suit’s chest piece. Benry tilts his head this way and that as he scrutinizes Gordon and the suit. Eventually, he settles on a plan of action, reaching for Gordon’s gun-hand with his other hand to hold the organic weapon between two fingers, and then begins to gently tug on it. For a split second, Gordon’s worried Benry’s about to rip the gun right off his arm, dismembering him yet again, but then a strange tingling sensation starts to spread through Gordon’s entire form. Benry gives the gun-hand another tug, and Gordon stumbles forward...  
  
  
Right through and out of the suit.  
  
  
Gordon looks behind him, seeing the H.E.V. suit still held firmly between Benry’s fingers. Benry drops the suit, and lets go of Gordon’s gun-hand, looking pleased with himself. “bip bop bam, you’re free. _man_ ,” he says with a dumb smile on his face.  
  
  
Gordon chuckles, both at Benry’s dumb attempted joke on his name, and at the _immense_ physical relief he’s feeling. Now in just the black undersuit, he can finally stretch and bend and twist in all the ways he couldn’t while in the restrictive metal armor. He makes a bunch of relieved groans and sighs as he stretches his poor stiff muscles and joints, GOD he missed this. He may have only been in that suit for a week, but it felt more like fucking YEARS. He does one last stretch, arching his back as far back as it will go (which is much, much farther than he could in the armor), and his spine makes a very loud, very satisfying _POP_. Benry does an impressed whistle at the sound.  
  
  
“Hooooly _shit_ I needed that. Thanks, man,” Gordon says. “That suit was murder on my posture.”  
  
  
“oh shit, that’s why you were always walking around like a monkey? i thought you were just like that. the more you know,” Benry says as he drops his hands back into the floor. The statement earns him a barked out laugh from Gordon. When Gordon regains his composure and looks up at Benry, he sees the giant looking back at him expectantly. Oh, right, the kiss.  
  
  
“So, about that kiss. Are you- whoa!” Gordon is cut off when Benry’s hand rises up from the floor beneath him, scooping him up and lifting him to Benry’s face.  
  
  
“ready when you are, bro,” Benry says with a grin. Ah. Okay. He wants to kiss Gordon while still being a giant. That’s fine. That’s great. That doesn’t terrify Gordon at all.  
  
  
Gordon swallows before giving a weak nod and a thumbs up, and braces himself. He closes his eyes as the distance between himself and Benry’s face is closed, and Benry plants a kiss that encompasses Gordon’s whole torso thanks to the size difference.  
  
  
Gordon would like to say that he’s not enjoying being kissed by Benry like this, but he'd be a damn liar if he did. In addition to missing a better range of motion while in the H.E.V. suit, his touch-starved ass was also dearly missing being able to actually feel contact. Gordon can’t help but melt a little as he’s gently pressed between Benry’s hand and lips, the giant palm cushioning his back like a comfortable chair, and the kiss like being under a plush weighted blanket. The feeling of warmth spreading throughout his body is something he hasn't felt in a while, and sorely missed it.  
  
  
Benry pulls away, and then smiles when he sees how much more relaxed the human in his hand is. “nice,” he softly says, with a bit of blush coloring his pale face again.  
  
  
Gordon feels his own face warm a bit, and he’s grateful Benry’s not saying anything about his own blush he’s no doubt sporting. OKAY, time to move on from this! Gordon clears his throat before speaking up, “Uh, so! Hug next, right?”  
  
  
“hell yeah it’s cuddle time,” Benry replies, sounding excited again. “lemme set'cha down real quick.” He does just that, lowering his hand back to the cave floor and tilting it a bit to allow Gordon to slide off. Gordon stumbles a bit when the hand against him pulls away, and when he turns to face Benry again, he sees the guard has shrunk in size, and is now fully in the cave. He’s still massive compared to Gordon, though, looking like at least twelve or thirteen feet, twice Gordon’s own height. Benry strolls over to a large stalagmite and plops down on the ground in front of it. He beckons to Gordon with a hand wave, and the human nods and starts to head over. As Gordon approaches, Benry removes his bullet-proof vest, dropping it down on the ground beside him. He then moves to undo his tie and unbutton his shirt and oh god is he stripping _what the fuck_.  
  
  
Apparently not, as he stops right after undoing the last button of his shirt, and giving Gordon a questioning look after noticing the man had stopped in his tracks. “what?”  
  
  
“Uh, nothing,” Gordon says, and then continues to walk up to Benry. _I understand taking off the vest, but why did he undo his shirt and tie?_ Gordon ponders as he stands before the entity.  
  
  
“you ready for some of the best cuddles of your entire life, bro? some s-tier hugs?” Benry asks, leaning forward towards Gordon.  
  
  
Gordon snorts a laugh. “You’re really hyping these cuddles up, huh? Yeah, I’m ready,” Gordon says. He’s about to ask Benry how he wants to go about this, when Benry grabs him under his arms and hoists him up, lifting him to his face again. And then he opens his mouth.  
  
  
And it doesn’t stop opening.  
  
  
Gordon can only look on in horror as Benry’s once mostly human looking mouth grows and morphs into a giant fang-filled hellmaw right out of a nightmare. Adrenaline fully kicks in when Benry starts bringing Gordon towards that toothy void he calls a mouth. “ _Wait, no no no **no no NO** Benry stop what are you **DOING-!!**_ ” Gordon shouts, terrified and struggling in the entity’s grasp.  
  
  
And thankfully, Benry does stop. He pulls Gordon back away from his face, which has snapped back to its normal appearance, and gives Gordon another quizzical look. “man, what? i thought you said you were ready for cuddles?”  
  
  
“B-Benry,” Gordon starts, trying to keep his voice and breathing steady as he speaks, “I know now that you’re kind of... bad at gauging what is and isn’t okay for humans. But how the actual _fuck_ does cuddling me equate to EATING ME?”  
  
  
“told you. s-tier hugs,” Benry answers, matter-of-factly. “best part of cuddles is like, the pressure and contact, yeah? more pressure and contact coverage, better cuddles. gonna be like a... like a living hugbox for ya.”  
  
  
_Ohhh-kay. So, more incredibly misguided comfort attempts_. “I, uh, appreciate the sentiment, Benry. But if you eat me, it will LITERALLY kill me,” Gordon tries to gently explain. “Maybe this kind of thing is safe for you, but as a human I am very susceptible to weird alien stomach acid.”  
  
  
“ha ha, yeah, you wouldn’t last a second if i ate you for reals. 's why i made a special just-for-hugs place for ya in here,” Benry says, like making an entirely new organ for yourself is a totally normal thing.  
  
  
Well, it probably is for whatever the hell Benry is.  
  
  
Gordon is still very uneasy about this, however. “Look, man, I know you just made a big apology for all the shit you’ve done, but you’re talking about literally swallowing me whole. How do I know I can trust you to not hurt me?” he asks.  
  
  
“’cause i’m gonna trust you to not shoot me full of holes from the inside-out,” Benry answers.  
  
  
Oh, right. Gordon had almost forgotten about how his right hand is literally a minigun. A minigun that could indeed do some serious damage the alien’s vulnerable internal organs, were Gordon to fire it off while inside him. It’d probably be damaging enough to even kill Benry again, going by some of the other ways Gordon’s seen him die.  
  
  
Which makes this is less of a regular cuddle session, and more of a mutual trust exercise. Benry could very badly hurt Gordon with this, but Gordon could do the same to him.  
  
  
But does this mean that Gordon is going to willingly let himself get eaten by a fucked up alien monster?  
  
  
.....  
  
  
...Fuck it, why not. He’s already been feeling like he’s inside of a creature in the weirdly organic caves of Xen, anyway. And this definitely won’t be the weirdest thing that’s happened to him since the ResCas, either.  
  
  
Nor will it be the weirdest thing that’ll happen to him still, he bets.  
  
  
God, what the hell has his life even become.  
  
  
Gordon takes one more calming deep breath before saying, “Okay. I’ll trust you, and I won’t hurt you. Let’s do this.”  
  
  
This time, when Benry starts twisting his face from man to monster, Gordon closes his eyes, and keeps them closed as he feels himself pushed into the entity’s awaiting maw. He folds his arms as close to himself as he can as he’s guided into Benry’s throat, and tries his damnedest to stave off the panic trying to rise in him. Loud, hard gulps and Benry’s heartbeat fill his ears while he descends, and he’s both surprised and thankful that the tight confines of Benry’s gullet aren’t triggering any claustrophobia in him. One less thing to feel panicked about.  
  
  
It takes about forty seconds, give or take, for Benry to get Gordon down all the way. After the human’s feet finally disappear behind his teeth, he just has to let gravity and peristalsis do the rest. Benry leans back against the stalagmite behind him as he feels Gordon slip fully into his stomach, the man’s form causing his belly to bloat outwards. He cradles his gut (and the man inside) in his hands as he lets out a long, satisfied sigh, along with some teal to pink Sweet Voice. Benry’s finally got the object of his affection right where he wants him- all close, safe, and secure- and he couldn’t be feeling better.  
  
  
When Gordon fully enters the guard’s stomach, it’s not quite what he was expecting. Well, he’s not really sure what he WAS expecting, but it certainly wasn’t, uh, _this_. Instead of being filled with the acrid smell of bile, Benry’s stomach has a faint fruity smell to it. The organ's black walls are plush and silky, and give off a soft glow of shifting colors. Benry’s heart thumps steadily somewhere above, and the sound is accompanied by the soft gurgles and groans of some other unidentifiable organs all around. Gordon’s forced to curl up into the fetal position, but it’s not uncomfortably cramped. The walls of the stomach undulate against him in gentle waves, and it’s… really nice. It’s legitimately really nice in here. What the ever-loving hell.  
  
  
Gordon’s thoughts are interrupted when his host speaks up. “you comfy in there, bro?” Benry asks, his voice causing Gordon’s surroundings to vibrate.  
  
  
“…Not gonna lie, I actually am. This is, uh… way nicer than I was expecting,” Gordon answers. He’s not really sure how Benry can hear him while in his gut, but whatever. Far from the strangest thing about the walking anomaly.  
  
  
“tooooold you man. s-tier hugs,” replies Benry, sounding smug.  
  
  
“Well, I mean, it’s nice, but I’m not sure I'd rank this _that_ high,” Gordon teases. It’s a complete lie, though. Gordon doesn’t think he’s ever gotten a hug or anything that’s ever made him feel this relaxed this quickly. It’s absolute heaven compared to all the shit he’s been through this week, and he can’t even bring himself to care about how fucking weird it is anymore.  
  
  
Benry makes an offended noise at Gordon’s tease. “man, not cool! i thought you weren’t gonna be mean to me anymore? gordon meanman,” he says, with the most put-on sounding pout in his voice.  
  
  
Gordon just chuckles at him, and then sighs contentedly. He lets go of any remaining tension in his body, letting himself pretty much go boneless as he’s cradled in the organic hammock that is the guard’s gut. God, he could probably fall asleep in here if given the chance…  
  
  
In fact, he almost does, before Benry speaks up again. “thanks, by the way...” he says, so softly that Gordon almost didn’t catch it.  
  
  
“For what?” Gordon asks.  
  
  
“y’know. the second chance thing. trusting me. all that stuff,” Benry answers. “kinda... kinda wasn’t expecting you to.”  
  
  
Gordon presses his hand gently into the stomach wall and says, “Hey man, don’t mention it. We’ve both been kind of... really shit at understanding each other. Something we’ll have to work on after we all get out of here, yeah?”  
  
  
"after we all get outta here...” Benry repeats. He suddenly remembers Gordon’s ‘ _save the lovin’ for later_ ’ comment he made back in the Powerade reservoir... but decides against bringing it up. For now, anyway. “yeah that’d- that’d be way cool. learn all the... all the freeman friendship pro strats. i’d like that a lot.”  
  
  
Gordon gives the stomach wall a few pats before pulling his hand away, and yawns. God, he _really_ wants to just go to sleep, the comfiness of Benry’s stomach and the exhaustion from his week in hell making it sound like the best idea in the entire fucking universe right now.  
  
  
"oh, looks like we got a lil’ sleepy boy in here,” Benry says, hearing Gordon’s yawn. “wanna catch you some good z’s?”  
  
  
Gordon is in fact such a lil’ sleepy boy that Benry’s words almost didn’t register. “Mmhmm... good z’s for Gordon...” he manages to drawl, losing the fight to stay awake. “Wake me... wake me if the team finds us, ‘kay?”  
  
  
“you got it, bro. have a nice nap,” Benry says, though Gordon doesn’t hear it, having already fallen asleep. Benry curls in on himself and gently hugs his middle before leaning back against the rock again and closing his eyes. He doesn’t need to sleep right now, but just kicking back and chilling, soaking in this moment of serenity, sounds _extremely_ hella.  
  
  
He softly sings out some teal to pink, and pink to blue, coloring the cave with the loving lights.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
After they had all jumped through that last portal, two things became apparent to the Science Team.  
  
  
One, their unspoken leader, Gordon, was gone. Which was a bad thing.  
  
  
Two, the shape-shifting eldritch horror trying to kill them, Benry, also seemed to have vanished. Which was an even worse thing, as it probably meant that Benry was wherever Gordon was. Gordon was a goner.  
  
  
At least, Dr. Coomer and Bubby were convinced he was. Tommy, meanwhile, still didn’t want to give up on the idea that Benry didn’t really want to kill them. Benry was his best friend, after all! He knew Benry was good, even if the others (well, mainly Gordon) seemed to believe otherwise.  
  
  
Still, they needed to find Gordon ASAP either way. Benry wasn’t the only dangerous thing on Xen, after all.  
  
  
They scour the sprawling cave systems of the Xen in search for their missing companions, eventually coming upon a fork in the tunnels. Coomer and Bubby take one tunnel, while Tommy heads down the other. Tommy’s mind is distracted as he walks though, busy with thoughts about what Gordon and Benry might do to each other with no one around to intervene. Distracted as he is, he fails to notice the big hunk of metal on the ground, until his foot collides with it. Looking down, he sees that it’s a H.E.V. suit. Gordon’s H.E.V. suit, judging by the missing right glove.  
  
  
Distressingly, the suit is also missing Gordon.  
  
  
Tommy looks around the cave for any other signs of the younger man, and it’s then that he finally notices he’s not alone in here. Several feet away on the cave floor sits Benry, eyes closed and resting against a rock. He’s no longer the titanic size he was when they first came to Xen, but he’s still pretty big.  
  
  
As is his stomach, which looks like he swallowed a whole cow or something.  
  
  
“Benry...?” Tommy calls as he tentatively approaches the entity.  
  
  
Benry cracks an eye open at hearing his name, and then turns his face towards Tommy. “tommyyyyyyy,” he greets in his usual fashion, though definitely a lot quieter than normal?  
  
  
“Hi, Benry,” Tommy greets in return. “Have you- have you seen Mr. Freeman?”  
  
  
“huh? oh, yeah, me ‘n’ him are just chillin’. i took your advice and apologized, and he said he’d let me try and make it up to him, and now we’re having a lil’ cuddle sesh,” Benry says, lightly patting the top of his swollen gut.  
  
  
Tommy blinks at him.  
  
  
He doesn’t mean...  
  
  
He didn’t actually...  
  
  
Gordon’s not...?  
  
  
“ _Benry_ ,” Tommy starts, trying to remain calm, “where, exactly, is Mr. Freeman?”  
  
  
“he's not where food goes,” the entity assures, “so uh don’t worry about that. i'd never do that to him, not after we’re FINALLY gonna be friends again. that’d be major fucked up, man.”  
  
  
“Oh,” is all Tommy manages.  
  
  
He’s... not really sure how to feel about this. He guesses he’s relieved that Gordon and Benry have made up, and also that Gordon isn’t in any danger right now. But he’s also _incredibly_ weirded out by the fact that, you know, Benry _ate_ Gordon.  
  
  
“No off- offense, Benry, but that’s weird as fuck,” Tommy plainly states. Benry just _bbbbbbbb_ s at him in response.  
  
  
Suddenly, Benry’s attention is drawn away from Tommy when he feels Gordon begin to stir in his gut. Tommy follows Benry’s gaze, and can clearly see something, or rather someone he supposes, shifting under the taut flesh. _Weird as **fuck**_.  
  
  
When Gordon begins to wake, he’s not immediately aware of where he is. He just knows that it’s soft and warm and is making it very hard to actually want to wake up. He faintly hears Benry talking, but still isn’t awake enough to absorb anything he’s saying. Gordon attempts to stretch, only for his limbs to run into something. He slowly opens his eyes, blinking away the sleep in them, and is met with the sight of undulating walls of dark flesh surrounding him. Ah, right.  
  
  
“Benry?” Gordon says, sounding still half-asleep.  
  
  
“hey man, you have a good snooze?” Benry asks. He rubs his hand over his stuffed stomach, which Gordon feels, and the human can’t help but lean into the pressure.  
  
  
“Mmm… yeah, thanks,” Gordon mumbles, close to falling back asleep.  
  
  
“tommy's here.”  
  
  
And now Gordon is very awake. “Wh- huh? Dude, I told you to wake me up when the others found us! Can you let me out?” he asks.  
  
  
Suddenly, a strange flesh-ripping sound fills the chamber, and before Gordon can properly react, the stomach wall most of his weight is against splits open, and he comes tumbling out onto the cave floor.  
  
  
“ _Uhg_ …” Gordon groans. “Gimme a warning next time, man…”  
  
  
“Mr. Freeman! Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Tommy exclaims.  
  
  
Gordon sits up and gives him a wave. “Hey, Tommy. Where’s Coomer and Bubby?”  
  
  
“We’re coming! Hold your horses!” a voice, Bubby’s, calls from further back up the tunnel. It’s not long before he and Coomer are rounding the corner, coming into the cave chamber where the other three are.  
  
  
“Ah, hello, Gordon! Good to see you’re still alive,” Coomer greets.  
  
  
“Good to see you, too, Dr. Coomer,” Gordon greets in turn as he stands back up.  
  
  
“And hello, Benry! Good to see you’re no longer a terrifying colossus,” Coomer then greets Benry, who has fully shrunk back to his normal ‘human’ size and gotten redressed. The entity just gives a simple wave back.  
  
  
While everyone says their friendly hellos, Bubby glances around at them all, brows furrowed. “Did I miss something here? I thought Benry was trying to kill us,” he says. “Are we just ignoring that now?”  
  
  
“oh, yeah, me an’ gordos made up. picked the pacifist route. no more bad guy benry,” states Benry.  
  
  
“And what about the threat we came here to deal with? Isn’t that you?” Bubby asks next.  
  
  
“huh? oh, nah, that’s not me. it was some uh, big baby-headed thing? i was looking for a good spot to set up as the ‘final boss arena’ and i found this super cool cave full of blood-water and great ominous atmosphere, but there was also a bigass alien mastermind lookin’ dude in it who was all pissy at me for being there. so i ate ‘em,” Benry says like it’s no big deal.  
  
  
“Oh,” says Bubby. “Well, that’s anti-climactic. Can we go home, now?”  
  
  
“Wait, hold up,” Gordon interrupts. “You just... _ate_ the fucking thing that was causing all these portals and sending the violent aliens to earth to attack us?”  
  
  
“uh, yeah? and?”  
  
  
Gordon looks on at Benry, incredulous. “You know what? Nevermind. Thank you, Benry, for saving us the trouble of dealing with whatever the fuck _that_ would’ve been. And yes, Bubby, we can go home now... Uh, as soon as we figure out how to actually get there, I guess.”  
  
  
“Oh!” Tommy pipes up, “my dad’s gonna- my dad will get us out of here! It’s almost time for my- my birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese's. You’re all invited!”  
  
  
“wooooooo! party time!” Benry cheers, fist-pumping the air.  
  
  
“Oh, I do love a good birthday bash,” says Coomer with a smile.  
  
  
“There’d better be alcohol at this party,” Bubby remarks.  
  
  
Gordon just sighs. Yeah, okay. Birthday party at the pizza rat restaurant. A fittingly weird way to end an extremely weird week. Of course, the rest of his life is probably going to stay just as weird, especially now that Benry’s going to continue being a part of it.  
  
  
A fact that Gordon, for once, does not mind at all.  
  



End file.
